I find it very disturbing that the charges filed against St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner to have her law license taken have not summarily been dismissed by the “powers to be.” But such a righteous decision flies in the face of today’s reality, because of the current atmosphere of racism and sexism that is pervasive in this brazen attempt to both discredit and disbar Ms. Gardner.
Why do I say racism and sexism? It is obvious to all to see that here you have a Black female, who had the audacity to file charges against the Republican Governor/Golden Boy of that time, Eric Greitens. He was alleged to have violated the rights of a white female. Eventually, Greitens had to resign. However, this bold move by Ms. Gardner was too much for the good old boys in Greitens’ camp. So similar to the past history of this country, a legal lynch mob of powerful white men and women was established to put this Black woman in her place.
So here we have an uppity Black female who must be taught a lesson. In the process of attacking her, the democratic rights of St. Louis voters are being assailed because she was overwhelmingly re-elected with over 70% of the votes. In addition, nearly $800,000 of the taxpayer’s monies have been spent in this vendetta against Ms. Gardner.
Finally, in response to their efforts to destroy Ms. Gardner by basing their case on the Brady Rule, which requires prosecutors to disclose any evidence to a defendant with regards to innocence or guilt, witness or sentencing, I must quote Bennett Gershman, a leading national expert on prosecutorial ethics issues and a former Manhattan District Attorney.
In an interview with a local media outlet regarding Ms. Gardner’s case, Mr. Gershman stated “the matters they are talking about are peripheral, marginal, attenuated, trivial. There’s nothing central to the case. I haven’t seen anything she did that violated the Brady Rule or any other rules.”
Accordingly, I repeat “the case against Kim Gardner has the stench of racism and sexism!!!”
Ziah Reddick, St. Louis
